A PIRATE'S TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Age Range: 3 - 8

The pirate cabin boy who narrated A Pirate’s Night Before Christmas (2008) returns with this sequel, another witty parody of a holiday classic.

The lonely lad is left behind to swab the decks when all the other pirates leave to “plunder wrecks.” He awakens the next morning to a surprise gift: “a parrot in a palm tree!” The patterned text of the familiar song unfolds, including cutlasses, black cats, chests of gold, monkeys, mermaids and dolphins. On the 12th day of Christmas, the 12 pirates return in jolly humor, admitting they sent the gifts to their cabin boy. The last pages cleverly reverse the sequence, with all the characters falling asleep, including the parrot and the cabin boy up in the crow’s nest, as Sir Peggedy, the pirate Santa, flies by. The parody is just as skillfully written as the first volume in the series, and the busy, detailed illustrations manage to pack all the accumulating characters into successive spreads. The cabin boy is a little overshadowed in this effort, but that is due to the crowded and cumulative nature of the song. A glossary of pirate terms is included, surrounded by a border of mermaids and sea creatures.

Avast, me hearties! Here be another bonny piratical parody ready for the readin’ to the young’uns at the Christmas season. (Picture book. 3-8)